Note: There’s a special new section to my website called “Baby Hudson.” If you look at my tabs, you’ll see the “Baby Hudson” tab. I’ll try to update it at least once a week with new pictures of the baby for those of you that are interested!

Well… I wanted to introduce all of you to my push present. This is my “Congratulations, Erin, you just pushed out a kindergartener” present.

He got me the pearl because it the birthstone for June. Every time I look at it I’ll think of Hudson and his June 5 birthday. {And I’ll think, “Dang! This is a gorgeous ring!”}

Poor Todd. A couple of hours after the baby was delivered and I had been stitched up, I was lying there and the nurses came in to get me to try to sit up so they could wheel me down the hall to the room where I would be staying overnight. Right before they came in Todd started to give me the gift, so I started opening it, but stopped so we could open it privately after the nurses left. Well two seconds after the nurses got there and I stood up, I fainted. So the push present opening was put on hold for a little while!

My husband out-did himself again! I haven’t been able to wear the ring yet because my fingers are still the size of sausages, but I can’t wait to wear it and get it fitted. (I actually haven’t worn my wedding rings in two months either because of the size of my fingers)

A little help here… how long should I give my fingers to return to their normal size before I just give up and go get all of my rings sized again?

I need your help and honest opinions. We’ll be spending a week on the gulf coast in August with my entire family and at that time I’ll be two months post-partum. I have a feeling that my tummy won’t be bikini ready by then. {The good old linea negra is still there} I’m going to do what I can to get ready for the beach trip, but I’m still healing so working out isn’t an option yet. And I’m busy! There’s not a whole lot of free time for me to get out and work on getting bikini ready when I’m feeding every three hours!

I’m looking for some stylish, flattering one-piece swimsuits. I might try a tankini, but I’ve never been a huge fan. My problem with one-piece suits is that they always seem to take all of my shape away and completely flatten me out. I found the suits below at J.Crew and think they may not be so unflattering. What do you think?

Baby gifts are so much fun and I think part of the fun is thinking about what you would have liked when you were a kid. Now that I’ve had a baby and have had a chance to use all of the gifts, I know what gifts will save your life in the middle of the night! My other favorite gifts are the ones that I think he will remember when he’s older and what items he’ll always cherish.

These are some of my favorite favorite gifts that I received that weren’t on our registry.

Todd gave me an iPod nano for Mother’s Day with Hudson’s name engraved on the back so we could have all of Hudson’s favorite music playing in his room. We already have a Bose docking station for our living room, but we needed another one for the nursery. Todd got the Sony Dream Machine because it has FM andAM radio and a clock. (and it’s not nearly as expensive as the Bose version) When you’re timing every feeding, nap, and diaper change, a clock is completely essential!

We’ve already over-played all of the songs on Hudson’s iPod, so we’re in the market for more tunes for him. Now I can’t imagine sitting in the nursery for so many hours without a soundtrack. Seriously, this is a great gift for a mom-to-be!

The Sleep Sheep is a really cute sound machine. It has four different soothing sounds like a mother’s heartbeat, waves, rain, and whales. It clips on the outside of the baby’s crib and makes noise for 30 minutes while your baby is falling asleep. It has seriously been a lifesaver.

And… it puts me to sleep, too. I can hear the Sleep Sheep in the baby monitor while I’m trying to fall asleep and it puts me to sleep immediately.

Some say that the hospital blankets are the best swaddling blankets, but that’s just not true. The Swaddle Designs blankets are a perfect square and are just big enough to wrap all the way around the baby and tuck in nicely.

They also have some handy-dandy swaddling instructions in case you forget which side folds up and which side folds down. We love these blankets!

So next time I have a baby shower to attend and all of the good items have been purchased off the registry, I’ll be picking up one of these great gifts for mom and baby. What is your favorite gift to give at a baby shower?

Right before I found out I was pregnant, I helped launch Weight Watchers Wednesdays with my blogging buddies, Mojito Maven and LyndsAU. It was only a week later that we found out we were expecting and the WWW had to go out the window for the next 9 months.

I was concerned with how much weight I was going to gain, but because I was so sick for so long, when I finally started feeling well exercise was the furthest thing from my mind. At 5’8″ I ended up gaining 42 pounds. My doctor never told me that I was gaining too much weight or that she thought I should try to cut back. This is what I looked like at the very end of the pregnancy.

taken June 3, 2009 (the day before I was induced)… and seconds before I fell down those stairs!

So because so many of my pregnant friends have been concerned about weight gain and how to manage it while you’re pregnant, I have pretty good news. I saw the tummy in the above picture for many weeks and would wonder every day how that big tummy was ever going to go back to normal. I lost 20 of the 42 pounds while I was in the hospital. I had a baby that weighed nearly 10 pounds and I lost 2 quarts of amniotic fluid. I don’t even know how much water I was retaining, but 20 pounds was just gone like that.

Now, two weeks after Hudson was born, ten more of those pounds have come off– on their own– and probably with the help of breastfeeding. I can’t be too sure how it’s coming off. My appetite isn’t nearly what it was when I was pregnant and I’m BUSY. I don’t even have time to think about what I’m going to eat.

So, be encouraged, pregnant friends. I’ve lost 30 pounds in two weeks. I’m sure the last 12 pounds won’t be so easy.

taken June 19, 2009– two weeks after Hudson was born

The muscles in my stomach are completely gone and my skin has lost a lot of its elasticity. After my six week post partum check up I’ll be back in the gym to correct all of that. I didn’t have any stretch marks while I was pregnant, but as soon as I delivered him I looked at my stomach and it was half the size that it was two seconds before and I could see stretch marks immediately on my lower stomach. Oh well.

Here are some recent pictures of baby Hudson. We’re just so in love with him!